Thanh HưngOn the afternoon of May 29th, in Hanoi, the Sports & Culture Newspaper (Vietnam News Agency) held the 5th Dế Mèn Children's Literature Award Ceremony-2024.
Writer Lý Lan, who is currently in the US, sent her online sharing to the 5th Dế Mèn Children's Literature Award Ceremony-2024 (Photo: Organizing Committee).
The most important award - the Dế Mèn Knight Award - was presented to writer Lý Lan for her autobiography "A Pig's Autobiography" (Youth Publishing House) and her contributions to children's literature throughout her life and career.
With this award, along with Nguyen Nhat Anh and Tran Duc Tien, Lý Lan became the third writer to be honored with the Dế Mèn Knight title.
Writer Lý Lan, who is currently in the US and unable to attend the award ceremony, had her award accepted on her behalf by a representative from the Youth Publishing House.
In a video message sent to the event, Lý Lan said, "The autobiography of a pig" is essentially an experiment of mine in writing. Because at that time, I decided to put down my pen and take a rest.
Writing for me was just a habit and a way to pass the time. However, when I saw a pig running around the yard, I came up with the idea to write a story with this familiar animal as the main character.
"The 'Autobiography of a Pig' that I wrote in a satirical style - a style that I think is rarely used in Vietnam. I remember during the Covid-19 lockdown, I was at home with my sister, and I wrote just for fun because at that time I had decided to stop writing. Writing was just a hobby, just a pastime, not with any intention of publishing. My sister teased me, saying, "The old lady doesn't remember what she had for breakfast in the morning, and still won an award," Lan expressed.
Poet Trần Đăng Khoa - Chairman of the Jury Council - speaking at the event (Photo: Organizing Committee).
Sharing at the event, poet Trần Đăng Khoa - Chairman of the Jury Council - mentioned that in the past, many children's newspapers dedicated pages to publish poems for children, but that practice has gradually diminished. Recently, the Writers' Association has also launched works for children, upgrading the Children's Literature Committee to the Children's Literature Council. The Dế Mèn Children's Literature Award is a meaningful activity to seek and promote valuable works and potential young writers.
Khoa also expressed his hope that one day the Dế Mèn Knight Award could be given to a collection of poems by a young author.
"There was once an article titled 'Who has 'eaten' the child prodigy' to talk about the lack of children's literary works. I believe the child prodigies are still there, they just haven't been awakened yet.
I once went to Đăk Lăk on a charity trip, and at a school, I taught students how to rhyme and write poems. The topic given was climate change. Although I knew this was a challenging theme, many students wrote excellent poems," Khoa recounted.
Journalist Lê Xuân Thành - Editor-in-Chief of the Sports and Culture Newspaper, Head of the Organizing Committee (Photo: Organizing Committee).
At the ceremony, Mr. Lê Xuân Thành - Head of the Organizing Committee, Editor-in-Chief of the Sports and Culture Newspaper - stated that this year's award is more diverse in terms of genres with 135 entries and 10 works selected for the final round.
"The freshness and contemporary essence of today's life are always necessary to attract the public, especially children, to culture and art, even though we still cherish classics and continue to promote those enduring values to readers and viewers of all generations.
The Dế Mèn Children's Literature Award, established 5 years ago, aims to discover new streams in the creativity and artistic performance of children, for the children," Thành said.
Aside from the Dế Mèn Knight Award, this year's award ceremony also honored the Dế Mèn Aspiration Award for other works: "The Adventure of Little Cricket" (Linh Rab), "The Mysterious Library" (Lê Sinh Hùng), "Under the Blue Sky Frame" (Lữ Mai), "The Secret Little Kingdom" (Lã Thanh Hà), and the song "Oh Moon... from beginning to end?" (music by Chí Thanh, poetry by Trần Đăng Khoa).
Additionally, two works received the Jury Council's Special Awards: The children's book series in the collection "Nurturing the Soul" (by writer May, Kim Đồng Publishing House) including "Cute Pillow Bread" (illustrated by Thư Cao) and "Santa Claus and the Adventure of New Shoes" (illustrated by Thảo Võ); "The Golden Corn Monkey in Rú Mò" (draft of a long story by Đặng Chương Ngạn).
Poet Trần Đăng Khoa presenting the Dế Mèn Aspiration Award to writer Lữ Mai (left) and poet Lã Thanh Hà (right) (Photo: Organizing Committee).
On stage receiving the award, poet Lữ Mai shared that last year her daughter received an award from the Jury Council for the Dế Mèn with the work "Dad and Cà Khịa and the Letters." She expressed her gratitude to the Organizing Committee for recognizing her daughter's work and allowing her to take her first steps into the writing career.
"Today, I once again have the opportunity to express my gratitude to the Organizing Committee and to my daughter because since her work entered the final round of the Dế Mèn Children's Literature Award, I have had the chance to be friends with my daughter, to have a dialogue with her. What's even more delightful is that when she writes, I write too. When she expresses the world around her, I can also revisit my childhood," poet Lữ Mai shared.
